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Yeah, I thought there had to be a gap between the release of a mold and when they can use it. Did they pay extra or something for this mold?

Pete Sinclair wrote this over at Allspark.com:

Pete@BotCon wrote:The Prime Dreadwing mold became available VERY late in planning. All other head molds were done. We decided that with the right deco and characterization he still worked as Megaplex. Worked well actually once we put him up against all the other toys.

As always, its all about context. Once they all are displayed, the Decepticons side by side, they look pretty sharp...

He also wrote this:

Pete@BotCon wrote:I understand some people don't like it, but this is NOT a Machine Wars Redux. This is taking the concept and expanding it. And just like many other instances within Transformers, the file cards are not going to 100% reflect the character/story. Though many of the aspects FROM then file cards will still be a part of the overall story.

Last edited by Sabrblade on Thu Feb 28, 2013 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'

Motto:"Take the most horrifying, awful thing you can think of and multiply it by cancer."

Weapon: Electron Scimitar Sword

You know, I know funpub is a bit limited in what it can and can't use/do with these molds, However, they may be using good molds, however they're using them for rather drab figures, whose colors don't look much better than the original machine wars wave. If anything the should be improving on the characters color schemes, adding more detail and the like, a bit like Skywarp. Granted Skywarp may be a bit sucky, but at least they tried something to break up the monotony.

Hey I finally started work on my photo comic, with some help. I'd advise you to:

STngAR wrote:This set is reminding me of a bad poem...........no rhyme or reason.

Totally True, Im sorry but this ranks up there as 1 of the WORST Botcon sets I think I have ever seen. And making characters that literally Nobody wants or cares about in Machine Wars and Beast Machines? Plus using a "new" mold already AND no new head on it?

The entire thing is not getting bought by me now. At least I get to save $375 or so. Maybe with any luck they will have some decent Botcon attendee sets? Does anybody have any guesses or leads on them yet?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I will be quick to call FunPub out on errors, but just as quick to jump to their defence. In every previous Botcon Boxset I found far more positives than I did negatives.

Not so this year's. In my oppinion Fun Pub messed up in their Boxset design. Here's why I believe this to be the case

First, only 3/5 characters are actually from Machine Wars. This is the Box Set that is teased publicly to every fan out there. They have been saying "Machine Wars" for the last 4 months which means the box set SHOULD BE Machine Wars, not Machine Wars and others... this was supposed to bring people to the event and cause excitement, not cause confusion. Don't get me wrong, I like Strika and Obsidian, but they should've been attendee-only figures in their own pack of two.

Second, the aesthetics are all over the place. There have one movie mold, one TF: Prime mold and 3 Universe/Generations/Classics Molds. Sure the molds may "work" for the individual character, but they don't work for those who like a unified look... If I get the box (big If right now), then I'm going to leave some in the box because they don't work with the aesthetics I collect.

I think I'm just going to get the few figures I like off of eBay this year. Sorry but this is a low set for me. The lowest in a very long time.

Motto:"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest ... is silence."

Weapon: Twin Shock-Concussion Missiles

This would have worked with a new G1 styled Megatron head. But without it, it doesn't look like a clone of Megatron at all. It looks like a recolored Dreadwing. Megaplex with a new head would have sold the set alone. I thought reveals 3 through 5 were supposed to be the ones that wowed us all?

And for good measure ...

And they wonder why there's such an explosion of 3rd party products over the past 1/2 decade. These poor decisions/choices to save a buck are really frustrating. Believe in your products, do them right so that no explanations are needed, toss in a modified weapon for Hoist so he's got a tow hook, a new head for Megatron Megaplex, and charge us 20 to 50 bucks more for the set.

3H may have crashed and burned in the end but at least they came up with ORIGINAL characters that EXPANDED on current mythos instead of unoriginal revamped existing characters slotted into a storyline that is just uninteresting. (And incredibly unoriginal in the case of Shattered Glass)

I think it's a great choice of a mold, but they really should've put the extra time/effort/cost into a remolded head. But yeah, surprising indeed. And makes it even more unfortunate that Skyquake is so hard to get.

Skyquake was made into a Botcon exclusive out of some other guy, now they're making exclusives out of him. his circle of fame is complete.

assembling a Neo-G1/TF:TM cast. Please PM if you have (or know of) the following at a reasonable price: Classics or Henkei Astrotrain, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, or 3rd Party iGear Ratchet and Ironhide. Also looking for Universe Repugnus and Overbite, Frostbite and Longhorn and any Webdiver toys.

3H may have crashed and burned in the end but at least they came up with ORIGINAL characters that EXPANDED on current mythos instead of unoriginal revamped existing characters slotted into a storyline that is just uninteresting. (And incredibly unoriginal in the case of Shattered Glass)

But that's just my opinion ...

I disagree to some extent.

I like modern takes on old characters, so seeing a Red Tracks, or a new Pyro, Dreadwind in '07; even Thunderclash was neat. I would've been all for it had they kept the box set to Machine Wars characters in a similar style and I would've been appeased.

But they didn't. They took multiple characters from multiple eras and multiple toys from multiple lines and tossed them all in a box.

Recently finishing a discussion on what an "original character" is, I'd rather not do it again, but yes I would love FunPub to come up with new characters. This set would have been perfect to create a new unique set of Machine Wars-esque characters, but it isn't looking like they want to do that. They ripped characters from another series and retconned them in with very little originality.

It's lazy plain and simple.

I'm sure the comic will be good as it always is (after all, they have a year to write it) but whatever exposition they come up with is probably not enough to satisfy me that this is anything close to a good set.

Mkall wrote:First, only 3/5 characters are actually from Machine Wars.

[...]

They have been saying "Machine Wars" for the last 4 months which means the box set SHOULD BE Machine Wars, not Machine Wars and others...

Nobody said that all 5 characters were going to originate from the original Machine Wars line up. They even told us in the very beginning that they would be adding new characters. That was no "tease." They gave us a fair warning. Plus, it's Machine Wars themed, not a Machine Wars redux.

By "Kim Yura" & "Zimmo81"

Henry921 wrote:You can always be counted on to listen to reason, Pryme.

Dead Metal wrote:Have you ever, and i mean ever seen/read/heard something that is completely original and does not copy/homage/pay tribute to something else? Here's a hint: Nope. You never have and you never will.

Seibertron wrote:This would have worked with a new G1 styled Megatron head. But without it, it doesn't look like a clone of Megatron at all. It looks like a recolored Dreadwing. Megaplex with a new head would have sold the set alone. I thought reveals 3 through 5 were supposed to be the ones that wowed us all?

And for good measure ...

And they wonder why there's such an explosion of 3rd party products over the past 1/2 decade. These poor decisions/choices to save a buck are really frustrating. Believe in your products, do them right so that no explanations are needed, toss in a modified weapon for Hoist so he's got a tow hook, a new head for Megatron Megaplex, and charge us 20 to 50 bucks more for the set.

So if Dr. Wu makes a Megatron head that installs easy without damaging the figure, are you in ?

Mkall wrote:First, only 3/5 characters are actually from Machine Wars.

[...]

They have been saying "Machine Wars" for the last 4 months which means the box set SHOULD BE Machine Wars, not Machine Wars and others...

Nobody said that all 5 characters were going to originate from the original Machine Wars line up. They even told us in the very beginning that they would be adding new characters. That was no "tease." They gave us a fair warning. Plus, it's Machine Wars themed, not a Machine Wars redux.

Very much so, and I expected non-MW characters in the set. What I did not expect was them taking two fairly prominent characters from the Beast Machines line and saying "These two are now in this set."

The original Machine Wars concept was taking G1 Characters and giving them facelifts. Strika and Obsidian were not treated with the same respect. For a Machine Wars: series 2 (as Pete called it) it is not a faithful continuation of what he said they were going for IMO.

popular mold? i never even seen it in my area. One of the few prime figures i wanted and never saw it. But with that aside how come theres no remolding? If hes suppose to be a clone of megatron shouldnt he look like megatron? The original toy did.

Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'

Megatron Wolf wrote:But with that aside how come theres no remolding? If hes suppose to be a clone of megatron shouldnt he look like megatron? The original toy did.

Because four new heads is the limit, and they already used them on Hoist, Skywarp, Strika, and Obsidian.

By "Kim Yura" & "Zimmo81"

Henry921 wrote:You can always be counted on to listen to reason, Pryme.

Dead Metal wrote:Have you ever, and i mean ever seen/read/heard something that is completely original and does not copy/homage/pay tribute to something else? Here's a hint: Nope. You never have and you never will.

Initially there was some indecision about what mold to use for Megaplex. Character-wise there had to be a toy for him. But there weren't many of the available jets that worked. So there was some hemming and hawing as they were mulled over. And then Fun Pub got their hands on the Dreadwing mold! Pretty much everyone that had a chance to play around with it loved it. Seriously, if you never got TF Prime Dreadwing, go out and get one now. It's a fantastic toy. After the mold was decided, then came the discussion about the head. It's not your typical Megatron bucket head, but we noticed a few things about it that worked for Megaplex. Like the other Machine Wars fans out there, we really enjoyed the...quirks of the original packaging. And looking at Megaplex's original art. We saw something. Since Megaplex reused UK Falcon's box art, he had these funky eyebrows sweeping off the sides of his head. Megaplex art: http://tfu.info/1997/Decepticon/Megaplex/megaplex.htm … Falcon art: http://tfu.info/1992/Decepticon/Falcon/falcon.htm … Then we looked at Dreadwing. And he too had funky eyebrows sweeping off the sides of his head. But Dreadwing still had this very distinct styling to his helmet with all of its curvatures and ornamentation. Then we looked at Skywarp's styling (and a couple of the souvenir figures) and we saw that same style and ornamentation on Dreadwing's head. And putting them all together, they looked like a team. They looked very cohesive - the sculpts just fit together perfectly. So we stepped back and looked at everything. A fantastic mold, a head that - while not the first thing we thought of - still worked. And the decision was made. Megaplex had his mold!And yes, the mold came available VERY late in the planning stages. But there was still a little bit of time to discuss the head.

Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'

Motto:"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest ... is silence."

Weapon: Twin Shock-Concussion Missiles

Rated X wrote:

Seibertron wrote:This would have worked with a new G1 styled Megatron head. But without it, it doesn't look like a clone of Megatron at all. It looks like a recolored Dreadwing. Megaplex with a new head would have sold the set alone. I thought reveals 3 through 5 were supposed to be the ones that wowed us all?

And for good measure ...

And they wonder why there's such an explosion of 3rd party products over the past 1/2 decade. These poor decisions/choices to save a buck are really frustrating. Believe in your products, do them right so that no explanations are needed, toss in a modified weapon for Hoist so he's got a tow hook, a new head for Megatron Megaplex, and charge us 20 to 50 bucks more for the set.

So if Dr. Wu makes a Megatron head that installs easy without damaging the figure, are you in ?